So - we either redesign Maxim for to make it defensive as all HMGs (DsHK may still be same offensive, it would add some diversity), or making for USSR defensive alternative - bunkers, new defensive stock HMG, whatever else... What we have today in USSR for to purpouses of crowd control is absolutely ineffective, it doesn't work right and doesn't do job... even bad. It must be fixed.
Redesigning the Maxim? The only person who complains about it is yourself. The Maxim was doing its job correctly. Yes, it had a limited field of view, but it made up for that with easy suppression.
While the MG42 holds a better arc, it can't cover them all since it is a single machine gun. Especially when there is three squads coming from different directions. This is where the Maxim can easily suppress units in its arc since it is focusing all of its firepower in a limited field of view.
The Maxim has something which the Axis doesn't have, sprint. To you it may seem useless, but it will help bring presence on the battlefield. As for your mention of not being a defensive tool, I must disagree. You put the Maxim in a building and it has an arc equal to the MG42.
Now you also suggest a new MG for them to use. Where the hell are you going to get that? The Maxim and the DsHK are the only two HMGs they got.
Without including you in the Soviet playerbase, no one has complained about the need for bunkers. If they did, it was probably at the beginning of CoH2 release and they easily adjusted to the difference between factions. The only who complained about the subject is once again, you.